Black Diamond Cosmo Vs Petzl Tikka – Best Headlamp for Backpacking?

A good headlamp can be a backpacker’s greatest ally in the wilderness. Stashed in the bottom of a daypack, it will come to the rescue when the sun sinks below the horizon sooner than expected. Many backpackers enjoy hiking late into the night with the help of a high lumen headlamp.

At first glance, it might be tough to tell the difference between a $20 headlamp and a $50 headlamp. Some headlamps can cost as high as $200 – but pack way more of a punch than most backpackers require.

In our research, the Black Diamond Cosmo headlamp has the best cross-section of price and functionality for backpacking, but when Petzl released a newly redesigned Tikka headlamp in 2017, they decided to give the Cosmo a run for it’s money.